Animal feeder with dispensing mechanism and dust cover

ABSTRACT

An improved livestock feeder for use with an automatic feed delivery system having a feed drop tube operatively connected thereto for dispensing feed into a feed bin is disclosed. The improved feeder is provided with an adjustable feed dispensing mechanism including control levers which are operatively connected to the feed metering gates to control the flow of feed to livestock. The dispensing mechanism features a plurality of adjustable control levers which engage an array of indexing holes formed in the feeder to set the vertical height adjustment of the feed gates. The dispensing mechanism includes a graduated scale corresponding to each of the index holes to provide a standard setting for the feeder which can be utilized by an animal producer to supply of feed flow at a given stage in the animal&#39;s life cycle to obtain a desired growth rate. In a production facility where several of the feeders are in use a standard setting for the release of feed may be obtained to reduce variations in animal growth rate. The feeder is also provided with a removable dust cover which is installed within the feed bin to reduce airborne particles generated by the automatic feed delivery system.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This Application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of UnitedStates Provisional Application No. 60/046,048 filed May 9, 1997 by PaulJ. Bondarenko, Bryan S. Shive, Leon S. Zimmerman, and George S.Zimmerman for Animal Feeder with Dispensing Indicia and Dust Cover.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

This invention relates to animal feed dispensers and, more particularly,to an improved animal feeder having an adjustable feed dispensingmechanism.

All conventional gravity type feeders utilize so-called feed gates toregulate the flow of feed from a hopper to the animals. These feed gatesare usually adjusted by some type of threaded adjusting mechanism tocontrol the flow of feed. The threaded adjusting mechanisms found in hogfeeders on the market today offer no means of accurately determining theflow of feed being dispensed. If the gate is open too much, more feedwill be dispensed than the animals can eat and the excess feed iswasted. On the other hand if the gate is not open enough, the animalswill not get the amount of food necessary for optimum growth. Tocompound the matter, as the animals grow larger, they need more food tocontinue optimal growth.

To adjust conventional feeders correctly to obtain optimum performancerequires a certain amount of guesswork. Because adjusting the feeders isdifficult and very labor intensive, many feeders are simply not adjustedproperly, resulting in feed waste or poor animal growth rate asdiscussed above.

The present invention solves this problem by providing an improvedfeeder having a precise feed dispensing mechanism with standardizedindicia to eliminate the guesswork from dispensing feed to thelivestock.

The advantages provided by the present invention are that animalproducers can control proper feed adjustment based on animal weight,feed type, number of animals, etc. Producers can also mandate a standardsetting for all feeders for any given circumstance thereby ruling outpotential variables in animal production.

Another advantage to the present invention is that routine adjustmentsto the feed dispensing mechanism can be accomplished simply and the feedgates can be quickly and fully opened for cleaning.

The dispensing mechanism of the present invention is user friendly, theindex scale of 1 to 10 is easily read and understood, a direct actingindex lever correlates to feed gate movements either upwardly ordownwardly, the indexing lever and connecting rods are replaceable andthe unique connecting rod attaches to the feed gate without bolts orwelding.

A dust cover is included which makes the feeder of the present inventionenvironmentally safe by preventing large amounts of dust from becomingairborne when a feeder is being filled by an automatic delivery system.

In addition to the above, the improved feeder of the present inventionincludes a feed drop tube holder similar to that shown in U.S. Pat. No.5,558,039 to adapt it for use with an automatic feed delivery system.

2. Description of Related Prior Art

U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,039 to Leon S. Zimmerman discloses a livestockfeeder for use with an automatic feed delivery system having a feed droptube operatively connected thereto for dispensing feed into a feed bin.This feeder features a feed drop tube holder fabricated from a flexible,resilient material which is installed intermediate the opposed sidewalls of the feed bin by compressing the holder lengthwise with handpressure to effectively reduce its overall length and to allow tabsformed on the ends thereof to engage a plurality of horizontally opposedslots formed in the opposed side walls.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

After much research and study of the above described problems, thepresent invention has been developed to provide an improved livestockfeeder including a feed dispensing mechanism which accurately controlsthe flow of feed to the animals for consumption. The improved feederutilizes a pair of adjustable feed gates installed in the lower portionof a gravity feed bin formed by downwardly converging side walls. Thefeed gates are mechanically coupled by connecting rods to the feeddispensing controls which are accessible from the open top of the feedbin.

The controls for the feed dispensing mechanism are provided with a leverthat engages a standard index of positions that adjust the opening ofthe feed gates. By use of the controls, animal producers may obtain astandardized setting for the release of feed to animals at differentstages of the life cycle to obtain optimum growth rates.

In the preferred embodiment, the dispensing mechanism and controls areutilized with a hog feeder of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.5,558,039 which has previously issued to the Applicant herein.

In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention toprovide an improved livestock feeder having a precision dispensingmechanism that will accurately control the release of feed to livestock.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedlivestock feeder that will permit animal producers to obtainstandardized settings for the release of feed to numerous animals at aparticular stage in the production cycle.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedlivestock feeder that will reduce variations in growth rate betweenanimals by insuring the controlled release of food thereto.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedlivestock feeder including a removable dust cover which is installedacross the top opening of the feeder to reduce the release of airbornedust generated by an automatic feed delivery system.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent and obvious from a study of the following description and theaccompanying drawings which are merely illustrative of such invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a livestock feeder of the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the improved feeder of the presentinvention showing the feed-dispensing mechanism thereof;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the feed dispensing controls;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken through section 4--4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the feed gate showing the manner inwhich the connecting rod is attached thereto;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the connecting rod and feed gate;

FIG. 7 is a top sectional view of the lower portion of a connecting rod;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing the control lever in a position ofdisengagement with an indexing hole;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing the control lever in a position ofengagement with an indexing hole;

FIG. 10 is a top plan view of the dust cover panels;

FIG. 11 is an elevational view of the animal feeder showing the dustcover installed therein; and

FIG. 12 is an enlarged view showing the support braces and J-shapedbrackets for mounting the dust cover panels.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As background and to better understand by comparison the improvedlivestock feeder of the present invention, reference should be made toanimal feeder illustrated in FIG. 1 and labeled Prior Art.

The Prior Art animal feeder, indicated generally at 40, comprises anopen-topped hopper, indicated generally at 45, defined by opposing,downwardly sloping side walls 41 and opposing substantially vertical endwalls 42.

The opposing end walls 42 are of generally rectangular shape and theirupper edges are preferably positioned on substantially the same level asthe upper edges of the downwardly sloping side walls 41. The lower edgesof the opposing end walls 42 terminate at a substantial distance belowthe lower edges of the opposing side walls 41 and are suitably securedto opposed ends of a bottom wall 43.

The bottom wall 43 is connected to upwardly and outwardly inclined outerpanel portions 44 forming elongate feed troughs, indicated generally at55, along opposite sides of the animal feeder 40 and below the opposingside walls 41.

The lower portions of the downwardly converging side walls 41 and thebottom wall 43 define therebetween a feed discharge opening 16.

As another element of the Prior Art feeder 40, reinforcing dividers,shown in the form of plurality of spaced-apart, elongate rods 57 spanthe feed troughs 55 from the side walls 41 to the respective outertrough portions 44 of the bottom wall 43. The rods 57 reinforce the feedbin and divide each feed trough 55 into individual feeding areas whichserve to aid in giving the livestock animals access to feed.

As another element of the Prior Art feeder 40, a pair of elongate,pivotally mounted, vertically adjustable gates 48 including gateadjustment means 49 mechanically coupled thereto overlie the respectivefeed discharge openings 46 for varying the size of each opening 46. Thegates 48 extend longitudinally between the end walls 42 with theopposite ends of the gates 48 terminating closely adjacent end walls 42.A small clearance remains necessary between the ends of the gates 48 andthe end walls 42 so that the gates 48 may pivot freely in theirdescribed adjusted positions.

Another element of the Prior Art feeder 40 is the feed drop tube holder,indicated generally at 60, as shown in FIG. 1. The feed drop tube holder60 is a generally flat, rectangular structure having a circular opening60a in the center thereof.

Holder 60 includes a plurality of tabs 60b integrally formed on oppositeends thereof at predetermined intervals. Tabs 60b are adapted to engagea plurality of cooperating slots 61 which are disposed about the upperperipheral edges of side walls 41 at regular intervals.

One of the principle advantages of the feed drop tube holder 60 is thatit does not require brackets for additional hardware to install. Holder60 is manufactured to an overall length that is slightly larger than theinside dimension between the opposing side walls 41 as measured in aplane coincidental with slots 61.

Being made of a flexible, resilient material holder 60 may be compressedlengthwise by hand pressure into a curved bow shape in order to inserttab 60b into cooperating slot 61.

Once released from this position, holder 60 springs back into itsoriginal flat configuration such that tabs 60b project outwardly throughslots 61 in side walls 41 retaining holder 60 therebetween.

The central opening 60a in holder 60 is sized to a dimension that isslightly larger than the feed drop tube 63 to accommodate the insertionof the same into central openings 60a at varying angles without bindingtherein.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that holder 60 may beeasily repositioned to several longitudinal positions within feeder 40by removing and replacing holder 60 to a different grouping of opposedslots 61 as desired.

Since all of the above hereinabove described features of feeder 40 arewell known to those skilled in the art, further detailed discussion ofthe same is not deemed necessary.

One of the principle improvements of the animal feeder 10 of the presentinvention is the feed dispensing mechanism, indicated generally at 20comprising a pair of control levers 16 with associated indexing holes23, a scale 25 with numeric indicia 26, control rods 15 and feed gates14 as shown in FIG. 2.

The structure and function of these components will now be described infurther detail. It will be understood that a dispensing mechanism asdepicted in FIG. 2 is installed on the interior surface of each end wall11 of the present feeder 10 to operate the vertically adjustable feedgates 14 thereof.

A pair of adjustable control levers 16 are pivotally mounted on theinterior surface of each end wall 11 by use of suitable attachinghardware such as a pivot screw 17, lock washer 18, spacer 13 andcompression spring 19 as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4.

An opposite end of the control lever 16 includes a pointer 16a forindicating the setting for the feed gates 14 as described hereinafter infurther detail.

The pointer 16a is provided with a knob 21 including an index pin 22projecting outwardly therefrom for mating engagement with an array ofindex holes 23 which are radially disposed at regular intervals along anarc concentric with an axis of the pivot screw 17 as seen in FIGS. 3 and4.

Intermediate the pivot screw 17 and the knob 21 an upper end of aconnecting rod 15 is secured using suitable attaching hardware. In thepreferred embodiment a connecting tab 24 having an elongated slot 37formed at one end thereof is coupled to the upper end of connecting rod15. The tab 24 is mounted on a connecting bolt 35 which looselypenetrates the slot 37 and is secured thereon by lock nut 36.

An opposite end of each connector rod 15 is configured as illustrated inFIGS. 5-7. The lower most end of the connector rod 15 is initially bentat 90° to a longitudinal axis thereof as at 15' in FIG. 5 so as to liein a plane coincident with the major portion of the rod 15. Thereafterthe tip portion 15b is again bent 90° as at 15" to lie in a planeperpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the major portion of the rod15 as shown in FIG. 6.

To install the connector rod 15 in the feed gate 14 the tip portion 15bis inserted through mounting aperture 38 as seen in FIG. 5 attaching therod 15 to the feed gate 14 without bolting or welding the connection.Thus installed, it will be appreciated that a non-binding linkage isprovided between the rod 15 and the gate 14 to facilitate operation ofthe dispensing mechanism when the feeder is filled to capacity.

In normal operation the user of the improved feeder 10 adjusts thedispensing mechanism 20 by grasping and pulling the knob 21 outwardlyfrom an engaged position as shown in FIG. 8 and pivoting the lever 16upwardly or downwardly to adjust the gate 14 to the desired verticalposition. After the desired position or hole 23 is selected, the knob 21is again released to the position shown in FIG. 9.

It will be appreciated that each respective indexing hole 23 correspondsto numeric indicia 26 on the scale 25 so as to dispense feed at apredetermined rate to livestock eating from the feeder 10. In thismanner several feeders 10 can be utilized in a livestock productionfacility to deliver a predetermined amount of feed to animals at anystage of the life cycle using the standard settings on the scale 25.

It will also be noted that a feeder 10 can be disposed between adjacentpens in such a production facility and adjusted to deliver feed indifferent amounts from opposite sides of the feeder 10. Thus, theimproved feeder of the present invention provides significant advantagesto animal producers which are unknown in the prior art.

Further, the physical location of the dispensing mechanisms 20 on theinterior end walls 11 of the feeder rather than on lateral brace members47 extending across the hopper 45 as shown in FIG. 1 lends itself toanother principle advantage of the present invention. The improvedfeeder 10 is provided with a removable dust cover, indicated generallyat 33 as shown in FIGS. 10-12.

The dust cover 33 is comprised of a pair of generally rectangular panels34 which are configured and dimensioned to closely fit the interiorperipheral edge of the feeder 10 when installed therein as shown in FIG.11. It will be understood that the feed drop tube holder 60 of the priorart as shown in FIG. 10 functions as a part of the dust cover 33 asdescribed hereinafter in further detail.

The dust cover panels 34 together with the feed drop tube holder 60 arefabricated from a resilient plastic material and are easily removed forcleaning and maintenance purposes.

The dust cover panels 34 are supported in the position shown in FIG. 11by a pair of generally parallel support braces 27 which extendtransversely across the top opening of the feeder 10 interconnecting thedownwardly sloping side walls 12.

Braces 27 are configured to support the inner edges of the panels 34 inthe position shown in FIG. 11. In the preferred embodiment the inneredges of the dust cover panels 34 are provided with attaching hardwaresuch as J-shaped brackets 39 which are secured to the inner edges ofpanels 34 by suitable fasteners. J-shaped brackets 39 engage the supportbraces to 27 to secure the panels 34 as more clearly shown in FIG. 12.

An opposite end portion of the panels 34 are provided with cut-outportions 34a to accommodate the connecting rods 15 disposed along theend walls 11 of the feeder. The insertion of the feed drop tube holder28 is accomplished as described hereinabove and in U.S. Pat. No.5,558,039.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the remainingperipheral edges of the panels 34 are supported by their contact withthe downwardly and inwardly converging side walls 12 of the feeder.

In this construction the dust cover 33 functions to reduce the airborneparticulates generated by the automatic feed delivery system utilized inconjunction with feeders of this type. Thus, the environment of theproduction facility is made safer and respiratory hazards are reducedfor both man and animal.

From the above it can be seen that the improved animal feeder of thepresent invention provides an adjustable dispensing mechanism for theaccurate delivery of feed to livestock animals. The dispensing mechanismincludes standardized controls and settings to enable a precise amountof feed to be delivered to animals during specific stages of their lifecycle to ensure optimum growth rates.

The improved feeder of the present invention also provides a dust coverfor controlling airborne particulate matter created by the automaticfeed delivery system used in conjunction with the feeder.

The terms "top", "bottom", "side", and so forth have been used hereinmerely for convenience to describe the present invention and its partsas oriented in the drawings. It is to be understood, however, that theseterms are in no way limiting to the invention since such invention mayobviously be disposed in different orientations when in use.

The present invention may, of course, be carried out in other specificways than those herein set forth without departing from the spirit andessential characteristics of such invention. The present embodimentsare, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and notrestrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalencyrange of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:
 1. An improved animal feeder for use with anautomatic feed delivery system having a feed drop tube operativelyconnected thereto, said feeder including a feed bin defined by a pair ofopposed, downwardly converging side walls, a pair of opposed end wallsfixedly attached to said side walls, and a bottom wall fixedly attachedat the lower edges of said side walls and said end walls formingelongated troughs along opposite sides of said feeder and below saidopposed side walls, a pair of vertically adjustable feed gates disposedintermediate said lower edges of said side walls and in adjustable spaceapart relation to said bottom wall to control the flow of feed into saidtroughs, the improvement comprising:an adjustable feed dispensing meansincluding control lever means having indexing means, said control levermeans being pivotally mounted on said feed bin; connecting rod meansoperatingly connected to said control lever means, said connecting rodmeans being attached to said feed gates at a near opposite end thereofsuch that said indexing means is moved upwardly or downwardly toaccurately adjust the vertical height of said feed gates.
 2. Theimproved animal feeder of claim 1 wherein said dispensing mechanismincludes a graduated scale having indicia thereon corresponding toindexing means to indicate the setting for said feed dispensing means.3. The improved animal feeder of claim 2 wherein said indicia correspondto different positions ranging from a fully closed to fully openposition of the said feed gates.
 4. The improved animal feeder of claim1 wherein the control lever means include a pointer formed at an endthereof.
 5. The improved animal feeder of claim 1 wherein a lower end ofeach of said connector rod means is initially bent at approximately 90°relative to a longitudinal axis thereof to form a first bend portion andsimultaneously also bent at approximately 90° laterally to form a secondbent portion to engage an opening formed in said feed gate to provide amovable, non-binding connection such that said feed gate is permanentlycaptured thereon.
 6. The improved animal feeder of claim 1 wherein adust covering means is installed within said feed bin adjacent a topopening thereof to reduce airborne particulate matter released from saidfeeder.
 7. The improved animal feeder of claim 6 wherein said dust coverincludes at least one generally rectangular panel which functions incooperation with a feed drop tube holder to contain said airborneparticulate matter.
 8. The improved animal feeder of claim 7 whereinsaid panel is configured to closely conform to an interior periphery ofsaid feed bin.